Structural Cracking

If you would like a chartered building surveyor or a building engineer to phone you back and discuss the structural problems, cracking, movement, subsidence, heave, etc, please do not hesitate to phone us on 0800 298 5424.

My Building Has Got Cracks In It, Are They Structural?

This is probably the most common question that we get asked, which is not surprising as we are structural engineers or building engineers, also known as a chartered building surveyor or chartered engineer.

First of all let me explain where to go if you simply want advice and do not need to know the ins and outs of cracks.

If you need help and advice on any structural problems, cracking, structural survey or building survey please phone us and talk to a friendly voice on 0800 298 5424.

Structural Cracks, The Quick Answer

Structural problems, who are the experts?

Expert advice regarding cracks on properties are available from chartered building surveyors, who look at the buildings as a whole, chartered engineers, who tend to look at the structural elements of the building only and therefore wouldn't necessarily pick up such things as wet rot, dry rot and woodworm. Some other professions may have skills in these areas, such as architects, who are in the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), or chartered builders, who are in the CIOB (Chartered Institute of Building). You do really need to check that whatever the profession that they have an expert in your type of building and in the problem you have.

A good question to ask on structural cracks is…

A good question for you to ask is can they advise when the last time they saw something similar was, what it was and what they did to help. Also you should seek advice from previous clients, for example on our website we have many testimonials, all of which, if you wish, you can have further details on.

An example of a previous report on structural problems

We would also ask for an example of a previous report, otherwise it is like buying a car without knowing what make or model you are buying and, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for.

Again, if this is all too complicated please phone us on 0800 298 5424 and we would be happy to explain it.

Horses For Courses

We reiterate the point made above that the chartered building surveyor or chartered engineer must have experience in the type of building that you are looking for advice on.

We would always ask to see a copy of a structural survey or a building survey that they have carried out recently on a similar property (you can download these from our websites).

www.1stAssociated.co.uk for residential properties

www.FirstAssociated.co.uk for our commercial properties

www.SurveyQuotes.co.uk for survey quotes.

 

We don't know of any other website which has such a comprehensive range of structural surveys or building surveys.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

You should also check that, in a worst case scenario, the person has professional indemnity insurance. All chartered building surveyors are required to have this by the law of the RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) profession. We would add that we have also opted in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Regulated Companies Act, which means that we are further obligated with regard to the client.

Should I Ask A Friend Who Is a Builder Or An Architect?

Many of us are tempted to ask a friend who's a builder or an architect. They may be well meaning, but as it is not their normal day to day work you can never be certain of the advice and although we rarely find a problem that's not solvable, probably 1 in a 100 times, you really don't want it to be that 100 th time when the other 99 are okay, particularly if it is your property and someone that is doing this every day may just not spot that one thing that makes such a difference. The other difficult thing would be where you had asked a friend and then this problem then goes on to cost a great deal of money, would you also ask the friend to compensate you on the money side of things?

Different cracks mean different things to different people

Depending on the skill and knowledge level of the person inspecting your property they will understand and interpret the cracking that they see differently. That is why it is so important to get someone who is skilled and experienced in carrying out this type of work.

Cracking, will my insurance company cover me for this?

In short the answer is not necessarily, it depends if you have recently moved into the property then they will have expected you to have had a structural survey to identify any such problems. If you haven't then it will be difficult to make an insurance claim. Within our structural surveys if we ever spot any cracks that we think may lead to future problems we always recommend that the present owners make an insurance claim and that you continue with the previous owners insurance when you move in and continue with the claim, thereby limiting your liability to the excess.

Cracking, the disruption

This is often forgotten about when you have properties with cracks in (and you really don't want a property with a crack in) is the amazing amount of dust and dirt when repair work is being carried out. Often the insurance company makes the decision to relocate the people in the property whilst the work is being carried out, however if this work isn't on insurance then you may have to literally live through the work.

Structural cracks in a chimney

Please see our other articles on cracking:

Cracks in my Wall

How, in our experience, Insurance Companies deal with Cracks in Properties

Please see our section on: Specific Defects Reports

Please contact us for help and advice on this type of building claim or insurance claim or any other structural problems on 0800 298 5424 and a chartered surveyor will ring you back to discuss this further. Please note we are independent chartered surveyors.

If you would like Dilaps Help then please visit our DilapsHelp.com website.

If you require help on Disputes go to our Disputes Help site www.DisputesHelp.com .

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).

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